Tomorrow
by Crack-Anne Of Avonweed
Summary: Enjoy today, for tomorrow might not come.
1. Foreboding

Tomorrow   
  
Final Fantasy VIII  
  
Written by Miki McLay (aka Crack-Anne Of Avonweed)

Chapter One- Foreboding  
  
The sun shone through the glass-paneled hallway walls like a stairway to heaven, which, to Selphie, it was. It was the first sunny day in weeks. Happy tappity-taps reverberated through the empty corridors as Selphie innocently skipped her way to her dorm room for the first time in two weeks, thanks to an assignment which was successful.  
  
Life couldn't get any better, she thought. Happiness was reflected in all the facets of her soul. And she could see all the birds and trees bathed in glorious sunbeams.  
  
Looking away, she turned to her door with ever-familiar signage upon it, blocky wooden letters spelling 'Selphie' upon a 'too-cute' painted panel of wood.  
  
She stopped, and fumbled for the lanyard around her neck, keycard attached. Finally, she grabbed it, and swiped the card through a slot. The door slid open with smooth grace, and she stepped inside, surveying the room with approval, relishing the way the scent of her jasmine incense and rose oil still lingered in the air, the way cheerful daisies and calming lavender were still in a vase on a bedside table, the way the sunlight filtered through the wooden venetians, everything.  
  
She flopped onto her bed, and couldn't help bouncing up and down a little with glee. Sir Laguna, Mr. Kiros, Mr. Ward and Sis were coming tomorrow, as a surprise for Squall's birthday. _Tomorrow's gonna kick ass!_ she thought.

* * *

_Tomorrow. It's a strange word to use. You can't ever predict the fact that there'll be a tomorrow. Maybe there will be. Maybe life will continue exactly as it has for as long as you can remember. Maybe it'll be no different from yesterday. You might forget it.  
  
But what if tomorrow never came?  
  
What if tomorrow changed your life forever?  
  
What will you do tomorrow?_

* * *

Squall felt thankful. Lunch break, thank Hyne, he thought as he hurriedly got up, seeing the face of the clock. Cid, if he heard or sensed his ease, did not stir from his task.  
  
The door swung open as he stepped out, and took the elevator to the first floor.   
  
His footsteps, across time, hadn't changed much. To most, it had changed from a faceless cadet, to object of supreme admiration. But the person behind hadn't changed much over the last almost-twenty-five years of his life. Not much.  
  
His birthday was tomorrow. He barely could believe he was going to be only twenty-five. It felt like he'd lived forever, and seen all the sights the world could possibly offer. But he enjoyed it anyway. Life with Rinoa and all his other friends was good.  
  
Footsteps resounded through the halls, ten years of it guiding him, until he reached the Quad. He stepped into the roofless area.  
  
Looking around, he saw Selphie, Irvine, and Quistis grouped in a patch of grass, amidst forget-me-nots and a butterfly. Irvine was on his back, idly inviting the butterfly onto his finger. He smiled slightly at the déjà vu. Quistis sat with Selphie casually talking about the plans for the next Garden Festival. Rinoa flicked through a copy of some magazine he didn't recognize. Zell wasn't there yet.  
  
He walked over to them, and was greeted by plentiful waves and the angry grunt of the cowboy as the butterfly took off in a flutter of white wings.  
  
"Damn!" he muttered, watching the butterfly. It danced within the air, before vanishing from sight as it flew away.  
  
He looked up. "Oh, hey Squall! Gee, when did you get here?"  
  
Selphie rolled her pretty eyes. "Gee, Irvy, you're smart. Sharp as a circle."  
  
Confusion graced Irvine's features as he said "But… circles aren't sharp! What the hell..?"  
  
Everyone laughed.  
  
Zell, overhearing their conversation as he arrived, commented, "Yeah, Irvine takes an hour and a half to watch 'Sixty Minutes!'"  
  
Irvine raised a leg to kick Zell. He'd kick Sefie as well if she wasn't a chick. But he had to settle, and so his leg flew straight at Zell's ankle with deadly aim.  
  
Zell yelped, and grabbed his ankle. "Oh, piss off, Irvine! I was just kidding!"  
  
Irvine snickered. "And a big hello to you too, Zell."  
  
Rinoa tossed her magazine to her side, and skilfuly weaved her finger's through Squall's gloved hands, waving to Zell with the other. Squall smiled a little.  
  
The argument continued for a little while, snippets of exchange floating away. One could hear the heated, smartarsed comments from far away.  
  
"You fell out your family tree and hit every branch on the way down!"  
  
"Your IQ matches your bra size!"  
  
"Pumpkin head!"  
  
"You suck yourself!"  
  
The girls cringed, and in unison said "That's gross, Irvine!"  
  
He smiled, and tipped his hat towards them. "Part of the occupation, girls. I have to be."  
  
Rinoa turned to Selphie. "So, like, what band do ya reckon we'll have at the dance?"  
  
Selphie shrugged. "I have no idea! I was thinking either The Circle, or maybe Moodring."  
  
Quistis nodded. "Well, what about hiring Rydia? She's such a good singer."  
  
They got into a deep discussion of singers and bands to hire, meanwhilst Irvine and Zell, ever-juvenile, had discovered Rinoa's abandoned copy of 'Dolly', and were completely engrossed in flipping though it, checking out all the women photographed, focusing on their chests in particular. They were together playing a game Irvine had invented awhile ago.  
  
"Real..."  
  
"Fake, fake, real..."  
  
"Real, fake - Hey, look, Zell! One of each!"  
  
Zell stared. "What the hell?"  
  
Rinoa noticed her issue of 'Dolly' being treated as such. "Hey! Gimme that back!" Her swift hand, in one deft movement, snatched the magazine from Zell.  
  
Irvine got up. "Well ladies, since my fun's been ruined, I'm in need of a little sustenance."  
  
"If you mean food," said Selphie, "go for it."  
  
Irvine began walking off. "I shall return."  
  
Zell leapt up. "Yeah, I gotta go to the library." He realized the implications in the comment, and tried to shoot his best 'Don't you dare!' look around the group. Irvine almost shut up, apart from one comment.  
  
"What? Ya gonna go study female anatomy with the librarian chick?"   
  
Zell's expression contorted in a rage. "Why you little…"  
  
A/N: Thanks for bearing with me in this chappie. Don't worry; the story will get more entertaining as time goes on. I just had to use the first chapter to build up the feeling of the approaching storm, so to speak. By the way, the 'real-fake' thing Irvy does with Zell is from Becker. You know, the episode where Bob's watching TV or something and playing that game, and eventually he says to Jake 'Hey look! One of each.'  
  
You might be able to tell from the summary that eventually, this will be a tragedy story. It's based, and in honor of, 9-11, and the Bali bombings.


	2. Attack

It was such a nice day, she thought, lying back. Squall had left awhile ago, Rinoa was on her way to Timber for the weekend. She didn't know where Zell was. Quistis was reading, her glasses perched sternly on her nose, and Irvine was right near her, lying back as she did. Mmm… sunshine… drifted around her mind.  
  
The butterfly had returned. Probably seeing the alien one trying to kill it was gone, it had returned, fluttering dust-covered faerie wings through swishing stalks of grass, dancing in light.  
  
Selphie opened her eyes. Quistis gently took hold of a flower, and called silently to the butterly, tempting it with a flower.  
  
It flew towards her flower. She sat completely still, her eyes darting around with the butterfly's movements. It paused, and came to rest on Quistis's face, on the bridge of her delicate nose.  
  
She stared at it, gentleness in her eyes, and the butterfly paused for maybe ten, or twenty seconds. Then it flew away again, fading into the clouds at the edge of the horizon.  
  
She got up. "I'm gonna go return this to the library. I'll be back soon, 'kay?" she said, gentle smile upon her face.  
  
Selphie grinned. "Yeah, sure!"  
  
Caught in the headlights is something familiar to all races. It transcends humans, and even visits animals, Death walking across the barren plains, swinging it's scythe. You can't help being in it's path, you can only hope he can't see you.  
  
Watching your life end in fast forward in which you can't do anything about, your only action is to freeze.  
  
Sometimes, you scream.  
  
But sometimes, you don't get the chance to scream.  
  
You can only watch your life, your legacy, end in a third person.  
  
And say goodbye.  
  
Choosing to do so, visiting the library, cost Quistis her life.  
  
Solid rubber slapped the paved ground as Quistis went to return her book to the library, thought swirling in her mind. Like watching a feather on the wind, she could only concentrate on the approaching future, how Laguna, friendship developing between them, and his friends were coming tomorrow.  
  
They were real friends.  
  
Ever since the Ultimecia event of four years ago, chance encounter – on an Esthar HoverTeacup (Laguna had no imagination, sadly, according to Ellone and Kiros) of all places. There, they had a fun time, lasting ten minutes chatting about nothing really.  
  
He took Quistis at face value, but delved deeper than most people. They only saw the hero from time compression. They only saw the blonde instructor of Balamb Garden, and they only saw the spotlight shining brightly around her.  
  
But meeting new people who really looked past that was nice.  
  
An odd whooshing sound filled the air. Annoyed Quistis, brow furrowed gently, swiftly spun around expecting to see a cadet doing some crazy stunt.  
  
She was wrong.  
  
What she wasn't expecting was the image of her life ending in fast forward.  
  
Ragnarok sped towards Garden with immense speed, sending up forest debris in it's path. High pitched whines filled the air and buzzed like a million wasps.  
  
Quistis, looking in the cockpit of the Ragnarok, saw the final image of which she would die with.  
  
Him.  
  
To observe Quistis Trepe's death would be quite rapid. You would see her turn around in annoyance, and watch her expression contort into the path of headlights apporaching.  
  
You would maybe see a glimpse of recognition, suprise, maybe even hate for the one piloting.  
  
Then the explosion.  
  
It'd rip through the Garden like childish hands on wet newspaper.  
  
And you would see Quistis, just for a second.  
  
For in one second, her scared expression reflected her soul, she was a living, breathing, thinking person, and the next, she ceased to exist. The scythe had struck.  
  
And it was...  
  
Goodbye.  
  
The heat. And the light. It was so hot, she thought dimly. What… what's going on?  
  
She had the sense to open her eyes, forcing them as if they were bonded as Siamese twins were.  
  
She saw that her left arm and leg were obscured from sight by a large chunk of metallic sheeting. Tributaries of viscous blood painted its way down her arm and leg, and she watched it in morbid fascination. It was quite interesting, really. Such a strange liquid, its crimson streams pooling, and tracing a river down her bloodied arm. Lulling, like a lullaby, singsong sing a lil' song singsonglil'songsinga littlesongsinglil'lil'...  
  
Shock stabbed her nerves. Where was Irvy?   
  
A/N: See what I said? I apologise. The full impact and panic of the attack I have not depicted fully yet. Wait for the next chapter. And Angeliscence, as an answer to your question, the pairings will be:  
  
Irvine/Selphie  
  
Rinoa/Irvine  
  
There won't really be any other pairings. I apologise once again. You will be able to see why in the next chapter. So plase review! Thanks! 


	3. From The Inside

Chapter Three   
From The Inside  
  
A couple of hours later, Zell pounded away at a keyboard in the library, occasionally glancing at the monitor. Irvine, next to him, was looking up hentai on the net. Suddenly, Irvine got an idea. "Hey Zell," he started, "Watch this!" He then proceeded to rip the black cord out of the back of Zell's monitor, blanking out the entire screen, and shocking Zell. "What the fuck are you doing?" he yelled, annoyed. "That report was due at the end of lunchtime!" "Just shut up and watch!" he replied. With that, he rammed the head of the cord into the monitor. The screen flickered in a mass of color, and made a very loud popping noise, which the boys juvenilely took as something else. They exploded into mass hysteria. Through the laughter, Irvine choked out "I made it fart!" Various people looked over at them. Zell giggled. "Hey Irvine, what's that funky smell?" he said, sending them into another round of crazy laughter.  
  
Once they calmed down, they went back to work, Zell continuing his mission report, and Irvine now chatting on an anime website.  
  
A loud whooshing sound abruptly cut through distant air, raising everyone's concern and heads.  
  
Irvine, SeeD-tending reflexes in action, rapidly jumped from his chair and sprinted out the door, in unison with Zell. That sound was so familiar - but it couldn't be..?  
  
It could.  
  
Squall, in his office, was looking through various mission reports, and had been doing so for three tedious hours. The silence filled the air as Squall liked it, and he drummed his fingers in bored anticipation, waiting for four o'clock to come. Then he was free.  
  
But that never came.  
  
A low rumbling filled the office, and Squall looked up, annoyed. This was his territory, and no unruly cadet was going to screw that up for him – ever.  
  
Then the roof crumpled in.  
  
A loud impact was heard, and Squall's mouth formed a wide 'O' as he stared up, at the fragments beginning to rain down. Little chunks of plaster, wood and metal fell down from above. Some fell faster than others, like rain from some twisted parallel dimension. His concentration now was only on the rain of debris, and the power coursing through his veins as he tried to summon Eden. He had the best bond with Eden, and had sense enough to try summon him to clear away the mess. Then he would kill whoever did this. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough. The first fragmented block of wood hit him solidly, and he fell to the ground instantly, being buried under rubble as it did.  
  
Irvine and Zell pounded their way through the Garden, their senses filled with surreality as they pounded their way through the Garden. Some of the hallway was smashed, and the two had to fight to get through, the blood staining the rock surfaces. Fighting like wild animals, the two finally reached the quad, to see Selphie dazedly trying to pull her arm from under a huge piece of debris, the stage probably, Irvine thought. He had a quick flash of how hard Selphie worked on that stage, how happy she was when it was finished... What the hell am I doing? He thought. Sefie! He ran to her, and he glanced and winced at the viscous blood flowing freely down her arm. He called to Zell, who was searching through the rubble to find the depressing remains of the Quad, and other human bodies. Don't think, he commanded himself. Just do. Nursing a leg he'd bashed against some metal sheeting, he limped to Selphie and Irvine. Without speech, apart from a whimper from Selphie, they both grabbed a side of the wood, and heaved. The beads of perspiration trickled down Irvine's face. Finally he stopped. "It's no use," he said. "We're fucked." Zell looked down at the ground, at Selphie's fluttering eyelids, at her pale features. "Do you have any GFs junctioned? And a Float spell?" he asked. "It's risky, Zell. It might fall back down." "We're fucked as it is, Irvine. Please." Irvine nodded solemnly. He reached his arm out, and softly closed his eyes, concentrating. "Float!" Almost at once, a green aura enveloped his hand, and he opened his eyes again. With deft hand movements, he flicked his hand to the heavens, the wood floating up with immense speed, soon wobbling in the air. "Zell," he began. "Would ya please do something with this?" Zell smiled. "Fira!" he called to the wind. Red embering surrounded him as he gazed at the wood. It burst into flames with a spectacular flare in midair, and debris began to ran down. Zell quickly cast Water on them all. Irvine ran to Selphie. His eyes softened as Selphie's eyelids fluttered open, and she mumbled "Irvy..." "I'm here now, 'kay?" he said. His hands were surrounded by a white, luminescent glow as he cast Curaga on Selphie's wound. It cleaned up a little, but not much was done. He turned to Zell. "We have to get her to the infirmary," he said desperately. "Irvine, man, what about the others?" Zell's voice was filled with desperation. "I'll try look for some other survivors. You take Sefie to the infirmary. Then go look for the others. I'll meet you back here in an hour, 'kay?" Irvine nodded somberly. "Right, man. Good luck."  
  
With each step, Irvine could feel the blood of his other half staining him. It soaked through his beloved duster, but his mind was on the fading life force resting upon his back, yellow dress cruelly torn. Boots hammering against ruins, screams of pain smothered by the walls they once lived in, and ever-shifting remains pounded in Irvine's ears to form a morbid song of death. He was lucky the Quad wasn't that far away from the cafeteria. He cast Scan on the ground below for any sign of life. He could sense there were a few bodies below, but they were all... Don't think, he thought.  
  
He began to run, the desperation spinning around through his veins. Finally! He thought. The damn infirmary. The infirmary was not a pretty sight. At that moment, Irvine wished it the last place he would be. The point from which most of the screams reverberating throughout the crumpled halls of Garden were coming from in there, the floors stained with blood, sweat and tears, the air smelling of death. As it so happened, he managed to glimpse Dr. Kadowaki running around. Miraculously, the infirmary had escaped with minimal damage, save a few cracks in the walls and ceiling. Irvine yelled to a medic. "Hey, medics!" A flustered looking female SeeD with short, spiky hair, and bloodstained SeeD uniform yelled to her comrades "Unconscious crush wound victim!" Instantly another worried and depressed looking SeeD ran over to her, and took Selphie gently from Irvine.  
  
One laid her gently down, and began to cast magic on her wounds. The spikily haired girl turned to him, and said, "It's cool now. We have her. We'll do the best we can. Can you go find the other victims?" He grinned emptily at her. He was a desert on the inside, a robot, now numbed. "Okay," re told her. With that, he turned around slowly, and began to jog back to where he last cast Scan.  
  
Zell bounded away into the further wreckage of the Quad. He considered himself lucky that Selphie, at least one of them, was still alive. But looking down at the blood-tinged wood, his feelings suddenly plunged into blackness.  
  
Digging through the wreckage, he found two bodies lying side by side. He didn't recognize them, and already more SeeDs had followed the pair to the Quad. He recognized Nida panting, tired from the jog there. "Nida, please take these two to the infirmary, the air of seriousness clouding the Quad. Screams echoed in their ears, and Nida grimaced as he glimpsed the bloodstains all over Zell. "'Kay." He said simply. He'd had the sense to bring along a stretcher, and rolled the two onto it.  
  
Zell studied the rubble, with sense enough now to study the blood patterns. Then it hit him. Most of the blood seemed to come from one direction. Adrenaline fueled the extra strength of his as he pulled frantically at the metal sheeting.  
  
Uncovering it, tears began to well up and the whole world started to black out. No, it couldn't be. No. No. No... Fucking hell, just no... please... don't!!!  
  
His heart raced. The blood, it stained everything. What god could be so cruel as to do this to him? Who? Why? The crimson blood, remnants of lies weaved from the past, gleamed as it mocked him. His world darkened, the clouds rushing in over his heart. It was time compression all over again. And he couldn't save her, he couldn't save anyone this time...  
  
He screamed. There was a gaping wound he could see, and a part of a pole stuck out. Blood trickled from it, and he could see in her dying moments, her mouth was locked back in an animal snarl, as she stared up at the sky, waiting to die. All the love they shared, snuffed out in an instant... he only hoped it was quick...  
  
His feet touched the floor, he felt faintly, but inside he was falling into the black chasms of personal hell. I'm standing here and I am falling. How can I be falling? he wondered.  
  
Irvine jogged back to where he cast Scan, dreading the morbid task of uncovering the unfortunate victims, identifying them, and dragging them off to the infirmary. He hated those kind of things, despite being trained not to feel. But as he jogged, he pondered, how the hell was anyone not supposed to feel? It was stupid. Even the most heartless of villains could feel. So how was he supposed to cope with this? He finally recognized the patch of rubble he had last detected something. Meticulously, but with a sense of urgency, he began to pull away all the broken stone and wood, stopping only to quickly cast Float. At last! He could see knotted, stained hair, which, despite the surroundings, still shone in patches. Irvine's heart dropped at the sight of blonde hair. There wasn't much of it sticking out, and with his fears welling up inside his throat, desperately clawed at the remaining stone. It was her. Irvine recognized Quistis, but only just. Her normally pristine hair was dirty and matted, her clothing charred, and from what he could see, only some of her was intact. He vomited there and then. The only shred of dignity still remaining was that at least he hadn't vomited on her. Perfect Quistis, slain in an instant.  
  
A/N: Arr, SHIT!!! I'm so very sorry people! I just noticed I told you in the last chapter there was a Rinoa/Irvine pairing. Oops! What the fuck? Sorry, that should be Rinoa/Squall. Many apologies! ;; Another note, I am once again crediting the farting computer joke to me and my friend Lia. During a school lesson in the computer room, Lia pulled the plug out of her computer's monitor, and put it back in, and was surprised to hear the odd farting noise that erupted from within the computer. Then the teacher spun around and was like "OMFG WTF WOZ DAT???" I don't recommend you do this. Some guy in our class told us it screws with the computers. Heh. ;; Hey, that's a good idea. I'm gonna include a joke in each chapter from somewhere! See if you can guess them in reviews! If you do... umm... I know! I'll send you a preview of the next chapter! How's about that? So review!!! U Thankyou everyone! 


End file.
